On Killing Remotely: The Psychology of Killing wit

A great read for military and non military alike
I’ve never served but this book I found to be very engaging, well researched and thought out. The book flows very well with incorporating not only what RPA crews do for training but also letting the reader catch a glimpse of the military (especially Marines) culture. Reading the stories from interviewed crew members was eye opening, especially after strikes and how that can take a psychological toll. As the book points out, there’s a misconception of an RPA strike verses a strike by other means. Along with this emerging technology comes unintended consequences and the book goes in-depth into how the military is adjusting to address those. It’s a great read that I would recommend for military and non military alike!

The True Story of the People Behind the Drones
Phelps takes us inside the world of the U.S. Military’s UAS professionals, highlighting the challenges they face as well as the substantial contributions they are making every day to the security of the nation. ON KILLING REMOTELY provides the reader with first-hand accounts of combat viewed through the lens of the men and women who operate the U.S. Military’s fleet of drones on patrol 24/7, around the world. Like many great books about war, these accounts range from funny to heartbreaking, but they are all real and shed light on an area of conflict that is greatly misunderstood. This book is a must read for both military professionals and anyone interested in getting past the headlines and understanding how drones have become an indispensable element of militaries around the world.

A look into the life of the UAV operator…which is no bed of roses
This book is an outstanding look into the lives of the men and women who operate the high-end unmanned aircraft that have played such a prominent role in the last twenty years of warfare. Having worked flight testing on the high-end UAVs myself for 25 years, I can vouch for much of it.I would argue, however, that the author may have conflated two separate issues. One is the 24/7/365 shift-work nature of over-the-horizon UAV operations. Whether you are operating an armed or an unarmed UAV doesn’t matter, it’s a grinding, grueling schedule. As the author notes, a normal military unit goes through a distinct train-deploy-recover cycle. For a UAV crewmember, there IS no end to the deployment – just the few hours until the next shift. And give the insatiable appetite for ISR support, those hours are often too few.The other issue is the remote strike aspect. Observe a hostile for hours, even days. Get the order to kill, carry it out…then go home and mow the lawn. It’s like being a sniper, except that you commute to the job. And it carries a cost.This book raises a lot of issues. High-end unmanned aviation is a very complex, highly stressful job. Throw in the added burden of strike operations, and it becomes clear that the men and women who do it deserve a lot more respect and credit than they get.

Doesn’t hold back
Having spent the past 10 years in the intelligence community as an intelligence analyst on many ops floors I can say I am no stranger to the contents in this book. I wasn’t sure what I would be getting myself into while reading it. I have to say the information is incredibly well presented and does not hold back on some details. I was surprised at the numerous sources and comments that had said so many of the things I have heard myself say over the years or have heard my fellow coworkers say. It was all too familiar. I would highly recommend that anyone involved with the DGS or SOs or anything else in that territory pick this up. Even those simply wishing to gain a better understanding of what it is we do. It is very well explained. It is also not for the faint of heart and can be hard to process. Thank you Lt. Col Phelps for your work on this.

I finished “On Killing Remotely” by Wayne Phelps just before Christmas and I have to say this is a cracking read.Wayne has deliberately taken a scholarly and evidence-based approach, working through the many issues that face RPAS crews and mission staff with care and diligence.A lot of his findings really hit home for me. I remember joining the 15th Reconnaissance Squadron in May 2004, as a Sensor Operator flying MQ-1 Predator. We flew armed ISR missions over Iraq and Afghanistan with peaks of intense, highly kinetic missions (Fallujah being just one).The pressure on the crews was intense, which – when combined with the chronic and cumulative fatigue of continuous shift work / live operations for multiple years – led to serious issues with morale, decision making and behaviours. You know the Remote / Split operations model is not working when you have young airmen and women volunteering to deploy to the launch and recovery element in Iraq, just to get themselves out of the grinder. The routine response when the leadership was asked to give the Squadron a “down day” was “your brothers in Iraq can’t have a day off – neither can you.” Some of our crews had already been on the front line of RPAS operations for 3 years when I joined, with no end in sight.One point I think Wayne might have made more of is the preparation of RPAS operators to deal with taking lives. Those from the “teeth arms” (infantry, marines, fast jet aviators, warfighting sailors etc) are prepared all through their training to deal out death to our enemies. The emotional response from young airmen and women from supporting career fields (imagery analysts trained as sensor operators) was much more varied. One young lady in particular really struggled with pulling the trigger, and at the time was considered by her USAF leadership as someone with a ‘lack of moral fibre’ (to quote a WW1 term often used). Of course, when you sign on in the military you should be prepared to fight.I don’t think you can blame some of these young people however – they joined the military in a career field never expecting to be responsible for killing other humans.Supporting the effect? Yes. Doing it themselves? No.The psychological and emotional effects of that level of unpreparedness ran deep, I suspect.This a great book, and one I heartily recommend for anyone interested or engaged in RPAS operations, or indeed interested in the human condition when under pressure.